All Aflutter
by lulamae-golightly
Summary: Perhaps they could start their own love story, like the ones she liked to read. Simon/Kaylee fluff about how things came to be between them.


**A/N: Another Simon/Kaylee oneshot because yeah. Set in between Objects in Space and the BDM. :D**

**Firefly doesn't belong to me.**

How he ended up in the engine room, he wasn't sure. He remembered trying to get away from Jayne, his inquiries on when "he was gonna stick it in Kaylee". Luckily Mal had intervened, saying he didn't want anyone sticking _anything_ in his mechanic. And besides, Simon really didn't care for the idea of "sticking it in". That was put so crudely. It's not as if he hadn't imagined...things with Kaylee, but it was never like that in his dreams.

But he did escape from Jayne's relentless comments, making his way to Kaylee's little haven. The girl in question was sitting Indian-style on the floor, a book in her lap. She was hunched over it, her hair hanging in front of her face, clearly enthralled. He dared to tap out a knock on the wall, and she jumped. "Oh, hi, Simon!" she exclaimed, throwing her book aside. "Whatcha need?"

"Nothing," he shrugged. "Just wanted to see you." she broke out into a grin that could melt the coldest heart (and was melting his, just as every grin did).

"Well, that's nice of ya. How are you doing?" she patted the floor, an invitation to join her, and he reluctantly did.

"I'm alright."

"How's your leg? Better? Looks better."

"It's a lot better. I'm still limping a little, but for the most part, I'm alright." she smiled again.

"Good for you. Been a weird coupla weeks, after all that." her smile quickly turned into a tight line.

"Yeah," he agreed, leaning back, supporting himself with his hands. "But it's all over now." His voice was low, reassuring. He knew what Early had threatened to do to Kaylee, how frightening he was to her. The thought of that man still chilled her to the bone.

She nodded slowly. "Uh-huh. We're...we're gettin' by, jus' as always." Simon tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "An'...we got each other." she concluded slowly.

"We do. We're a family, aren't we?"

The smile began to reappear. "That we are. You think of us as family?"

"I do," he replied honestly. "I know River does, especially you. She says you seem like a sister to her."

"Oh, I love that River. Don't know what I did before y'all came along."

"What book is that?" he gestured to the book she had been reading.

"It's a love story, a book 'Nara got me jus' before she left. Jus' one of those typical stories 'bout a boy an' girl."

"You like love stories?"

Her cheeks pinkened. "Yeah. They make me all happy an' warm inside...fluttery, y'know? Sometimes I need that when we're out in the black, not quite sure of anythin'. Just a comfort."

He absentmindedly stroked her back. "Mm-hmm, I understand."

"I always wanted to fall in love like that, but I know it's not...true. Those are jus' stories. Life is much different."

"I don't know, I hear that true love is better than any story. I've also heard it makes you feel warm and fluttery..." he trailed off, tracing patterns on her cheek with his finger. Her hazel eyes were sparkling and staring up at him, her mouth agape.

"Simon, if you wanna kiss me..."

He nodded and leaned in, pressing her body to hers and finally soaking in the moment he had dreamed of countless times since she had first smiled at him in all her rainbow-parasol glory. They pulled apart after a few moments, neither of them wanting to overdo it, but it wasn't as if they wanted to stop. He ran his fingers along her jawline, his touch feather-light, a soft smile on his lips that reached his beaming eyes. Her heart _was _fluttering, pounding against her ribs and her stomach was flip-flopping because of that look he was giving her. He had just _kissed_ her. Something she had wanted for...practically since she met him.

"Do you feel fluttery?" he murmured, pressing his forehead to hers and rubbing her nose with his, making her giggle.

"Mmm-hmm. You always make me feel that way, 'specially when you smile at me like that," she admitted, and he chuckled, pressing a kiss to her nose. She melted a little.

"You are so pretty, Kaylee. Beautiful. I've wanted to tell you for...so long. But you know me, making an ass out of myself at every opportunity. Are you surprised I haven't said anything stupid yet?"

"Simon," she shook her head. "You may mess up sometimes, but you get it right a lot of the time, too. Maybe we jus' needed to find the right moment." they kissed once more, tender and slow and long. She wanted to crawl under the covers with him and lay her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat as she fell asleep, his arms around her. But this was just the beginning, and moving too fast could ruin things in the future. So she pulled away, released a sigh, and planted one final kiss on his cheek. "G'night."

He sighed in return, wanting nothing more than to be with her forever, but he _did_ have work still to do, and he _did_ have to check on his sister. And he'd probably get more comments from Jayne along the way, but for some reason that didn't matter. He kissed Kaylee one last time, and pulled himself off the floor. "Goodnight, Kaylee."

She spread out on the floor as he walked away, listening to the hum of the engine and feeling her face flush. Perhaps this was the start of their love story.

**A/N: thanks for reading! The movie "Serenity" is the first time we see Kaylee and Simon...having fun times :P, but I can't imagine that being their first kiss.**

**-Lulame**


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